There is a proliferation of personal devices such as smartphones, tablets and other devices with relatively large amounts of flash memory paired with relatively small amounts of Random Access Memory (RAM). Such devices are expected to outstrip the growth of devices such as desktop and notebook personal computers. Personal devices with large amounts of flash memory are capable of locally storing large amounts of personal data, including but not limited to contact information, email, messages, applications, settings and utilities, documents, music, videos, images, etc.
However, in some implementations, accessing these large amounts of personal data using personal devices is significantly more tedious than on desktop and notebook personal computers because personal devices have small or constrained form-factors, and virtual and/or smaller and/or ambiguous keypads with which to input text. Inputting text to enter intent is almost always more tedious on personal devices than on desktop or notebook computers where user displays and input mechanisms are less constrained. However, systems enabling search and browse functionalities of the large amounts of content on personal devices are still based on those search and browse systems originally developed for desktop and notebook computers.
In view of the foregoing, in some embodiments, it is understood that there are significant problems and shortcomings with federated searching on personal devices based in part on the difficulty of text input and constrained screen displays, coupled with small amounts of RAM, large amounts of flash memory, and large amounts of personal data.